The president may have enjoyed just the third day of his presidency completely out of the spotlight on Thursday, however there is plenty brewing while he’s at Camp David for the weekend.

“With President Obama poised to give a health-care address Wednesday before a joint session of Congress, administration officials promised that he will deliver a detailed prescription for reform despite the risks of spelling out exactly where he stands,” reports the Washington Post’s Anne E. Kornblut.

“Vice President Biden, in an appearance in Washington on Thursday, said the speech will map out ‘in understandable, clear terms what our administration wants to happen with regard to health care, and what we are going to push for specifically.’

“Though favoring one proposal over another carries political risks, potentially limiting what Obama might be able to claim as a victory, senior administration officials said the speech will satisfy demands that he clarify which provisions he supports and which he could jettison. The contents of the speech are largely decided, officials said.

“‘I don’t think that there will be any ambiguity about where he thinks we have to go from here,’ senior adviser David Axelrod said.”

One idea that may come into play: a public option “trigger”, reports the Los Angeles Times’ Peter Nicholas and Christi Parsons.

“Looking to break the logjam on healthcare legislation, the White House and Democrats in the Senate are increasingly placing their hopes on the idea of a ‘trigger’ that, if set off, would allow the government to offer health insurance to many Americans.

“Under a trigger, private insurance companies would be told to meet benchmarks for improving the health system, such as insuring more Americans and reducing healthcare costs. If they failed to do so by a certain deadline, the federal government would launch its own health insurance program.

“The plan might win over moderate Republican and wavering Democratic senators, who do not want to give the government blanket authorization to enter the insurance market and compete with private companies. At the same time, President Obama could make the argument that he has not abandoned the prospect of a government-run plan, also called a ‘public option,’ which liberals contend is needed to inject competition into the insurance industry.”

The New York Times’ Robert Pear and Jackie Calmes with more on the “trigger”, “Health Care Idea Has Public Plan Only as Backup”

Bloomberg News’ Holly Rosenkrantz, “Public Option Not Vital to Health Reform, Teamsters’ Hoffa Says”: “[he] said dropping the so-called public option wouldn’t be a ‘deal killer’ for health-care legislation, signaling a split among leaders of unions that are a core constituency of President Barack Obama.”

Wall Street Journal’s Janet Adamy, “Obama Press on Details of Plan”

Meantime, Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, and the five other senators negotiating a possible compromise will talk today, reports Politico’s Carrie Budoff Brown.

“Most top Democrats, including senior White House advisers, may no longer expect a health care deal out of the bipartisan ‘Group of Six,’ but the senators still plan to talk Friday for the first time as a group in more than two weeks.

“Don’t expect any major announcements: the group wants to meet face-to-face next week and talk about what has transpired over the last month before they make any decisions about the fate of their negotiations, congressional sources said Thursday.

Washington Post’s Shailagh Murray on Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., “A GOP Senator Looking to Meet Halfway”

Bloomberg News’ Julianna Goldman and Nicholas Johnston, “Obama May Need Sense of Crisis to Revive Health-Care Overhaul”